


Another Bella Notte

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: Disney - Fandom, Lady and the Tramp
Genre: Humanised Lady and the Tramp fanfic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:47:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1356352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.<br/>Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.<br/>Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sunday

Ladonna de Gascon awoke early on the first Sunday of Spring Break. It was just beginning to get light. With the energy of a spaniel, she eagerly leapt out of bed, threw up the duvet and pulled her sheets straight. Getting up in the morning always had order and rhythm to it; first the bed had to be made. Then, she had have a quick wash and clean her teeth in her own private en-suite bathroom, lavishly but tastefully decorated in delicate blues, and then she had to find something to wear. Pulling her favourite Columbia blue dress out of her wardrobe, Ladonna smiled to herself. Sundays were special to her since it was the only day her father was off from work, so the three of them could spend quality time together as a family, and on a day like this, it could only mean some kind of outing. 

Excitedly, she dressed and then brushed her hair out neatly before tying it back with a blue ribbon to keep it out of her eyes. Now properly dressed and wide awake, she pulled back the curtains and let the warmth of the sunshine pour into her bedroom, brightening up the blue carpet, blue bedspread, blue and white walls...well, you get the idea. Opening the windows, Ladonna bathed in the glow of the morning for a moment before she took a step out onto her balcony and rested her chin in her arms. Ladonna loved where they lived in their quiet little Park Avenue, where the houses were beautifully big and tastefully painted white or pale pink or apple green or soft beige. She loved being able to walk to the library or to the park; anywhere else such as the main area of town could be reached by car or hackney carriage. And she loved being situated right in between the houses of her two best friends, Hamish and Travis. 

Leaning her cheek on her hand, Ladonna sighed happily as she began to dream about what they might get up to today. Unnoticed by her, the street below was coming to life; the flower seller with his cart was whistling a happy tune; the butcher’s boy was cycling past on his bicycle; two prim ladies were debating whether or not to get a bus into town or not and a scruffy but streetwise teenager was leaning against a nearby fence, eating a scrumpt apple. The teenager was Jack Gray, an eighteen year old who had led a less than privileged life but cared nothing for rules or routine and instead lived by his wits. After all, rules were made to be broken, weren’t they? Presently he finished, threw the core into the gutter, stretched and then noticed the young girl at her window. 

It was a well-acknowledged truth that Ladonna was a rare beauty. Everyone who met her said so, not just her parents. With her pale skin, wide brown eyes and silky brown hair, Ladonna had captured many hearts right from the beginning...and now even Jack, who had a reputation as a bit of a ladies’ man, had to admit that her beauty was striking. 

Of course, Ladonna didn’t notice him because at that moment the paper boy came up their garden path and she quickly snapped to attention. The less time she spent idly daydreaming, the more time they had in the day together, so she quickly hurried out of the room and raced down the stairs to pick up the paper for her father, because she knew that he always liked to start the day by reading the paper over breakfast. Laying it by his place at the table, she hurried about the kitchen to prepare breakfast, knowing that by the time she had finished her parents would both be up, dressed and ready for something to eat.

As usual she was right, and she was just pouring hot water into the teapot when they both came in. “Morning,” Ladonna chirped, brightly and politely, as she always did. 

“Ah, the paper’s come,” was her father’s usual greeting, alongside a smile, as he slid into a chair and picked it up. 

“Morning, darling,” her mother said, as usual, as she took the teapot from her daughter. 

Ladonna settled down in her chair, smiling to herself. Was there anything wrong with routine? Not as far as she could see. She was happy with her parents in this rather privileged life where she never wanted for anything. What more could there be?

After breakfast, Ladonna hurried upstairs to pull on her shoes and find her parasol. All young ladies her age used them in this sunny weather, as did her mother. While she was upstairs, her parents exchanged a slightly nervous glance. 

“Should we tell her?” her mother asked. 

“Not yet,” her father decided. “It wouldn’t be right to just spring it on her. We should leave it a few days yet.”

Ladonna sprang back down the stairs, parasol in hand. “Come on, I’m ready.”

Her mother smiled. “Alright, darling, we’re coming.”

Ladonna noticed that her parents seemed a little distracted that morning, but she put it down to the fact that her father had been very busy the day before and her mother, well, her mother didn’t work, so she was probably just tired. But it didn’t do anything to dampen their day out. Nevertheless, as they finally clambered into the hackney carriage to take them home, Ladonna resolved to ask her friends about it the next day. 

Monday didn’t seem to want to come soon enough; her parents still seemed a little off that evening, although they tried not to show it. Ladonna didn’t ask them what the problem was; instead she distracted herself with her new book for the evening. The next morning, her father seemed alright but her mother was distant and a little cold. Ladonna wanted to know why but every time she approached her mother, it seemed that she was just making a nuisance of herself. 

“Ladonna, can you please stop getting under my feet and just...” Her mother sighed as she hustled her out of the door, “go and see your friends or something?”

Ladonna was stung by her mother’s coldness. They had, of course, had arguments before, but this time Ladonna had no idea what she had done to annoy her mother so much. With a sigh, she sat down on the porch swing and tried not to dwell on it too much as she opened her book. 

“Hey, Lassie!” 

Ladonna looked up at her friends. It was hard for anyone to conceive that two unlikely boys could be the best of friends. Hamish McHeath was a short, wiry lad, Scottish-born and serious whilst Travis Browne was tall, a little dozy, and somewhat scatterbrained and forgetful, but they got along surprisingly well. 

“Wha’s up?” Hamish asked, sitting beside her on the swing. “You look like you’ve lost a dollar and found a cent.”

“Yeah,” agreed Travis, leaning on the porch fence.

Ladonna smiled. “Just feeling a little blue.”

“Like your dress?” joked Travis, plucking at her sleeve.

Hamish rolled his eyes. “Very funny.”

“I thought it was.”

“So, what’s up?” asked Hamish to Ladonna.

“It’s my parents. I think something’s up with them. They were acting distant with me yesterday and now Mama’s getting irritated with me and I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.”

Hamish glanced at Travis. “Mood swings, do you think?”

“Could be,” Travis shrugged. 

“Mood swings?” Ladonna glanced at Hamish. 

“Well, it’s like this, Lass,” began Hamish.

He was quickly interrupted by Travis asking “Has she been getting hungrier than usual lately?” 

Hamish looked irritated but Ladonna nodded. “Yes, yesterday she said she had a craving for ice cream; and she rarely eats that.”

“Has she been feeling unwell lately?” asked Hamish.

“Well, now you mention it, she was sick the other morning...” Ladonna broke off, worried. “Is she ill? It’s not serious, is it? Is that why they’re being so distant with me?”

Hamish burst out laughing. “No, Lass! She’s not dying, don’t worry!”

“So, what, then?” Ladonna asked.

“I think what your friends are trying to tell you is that she’s going to have a baby.”

The trio turned to see Jack Gray leaning over the garden gate. He grinned knowingly at them. 

Hamish got, rather defensively, to his feet. “Oh, aye? And who are you when you’re at home, eh?”

“Name’s Jack, Jack Gray.” Jack leapt lightly over the gate and walked up to them. “Oh, you think it’s alright now, but it’ll turn out to be the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”

Ladonna frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t listen to him, Ladonna,” Travis said, straightening up. 

Jack ignored him. “Well, everyone knows what it’s like being the oldest child. Once the baby’s born, that’s it. No more family time just you and your parents; now four’s a crowd. They’re not going to be there as much for you with a baby around; and most of the time they’ll be too busy with it to even notice you’re there. They’ll practically forget they’ve got another kid.”

Ladonna felt slightly scared. Would that happen? “No,” she insisted. “They wouldn’t do that. They’re my parents.”

“Too right, Lass,” Hamish agreed, turning to Jack. “Mr and Mrs de Gascon have enough love in their hearts for a thousand babies and they’ll still always love Ladonna just as much as usual.”

Jack shrugged. “Well, think that if you want, but if you ask me-” 

“Well, we didn’t ask you,” Hamish growled, “so why don’t you do yourself a favour and get out of here before we throw you out.”

“Right,” added Travis. 

Jack didn’t look worried. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, Miss Park Avenue. Everything’s going to change with a baby around. Say goodbye to peaceful nights sleeping!”

He turned and sauntered off down the path. “Yeah, tha’s right, keep on walking and stay out!” Hamish snapped after him. 

Travis turned to Ladonna and patted her arm. “Don’t worry about it, Ladonna. Your parents would never forget about you.”

Ladonna nodded. “I know.”

Even so, Jack’s words had shaken her. She had, after all, overheard classmates saying how they sometimes got pushed to one side in favour of their younger brothers and sisters. And that Jack Gray, whoever he was, sounded like he was talking from personal experience. 

“Are you alright, Ladonna?” her father asked her over dinner. “You’re very quiet.”

Her mother had apologised for being so sharp earlier, but she hadn’t elaborated on her reason for it. Mustering up her courage, Ladonna decided to just ask them.

“Mama, are you going to have a baby?”

Her parents glanced at one another. “What makes you say that?” her mother asked, finally.

“Hamish and Travis say the signs are there.”

Her parents smiled and their smiles were warm, and instantly Ladonna knew that Travis must have been wrong; her parents would never neglect their love for her. 

“Yes, darling, you’re going to have a new brother or sister,” her mother confirmed, squeezing her hand.

“And we expect you to be the best big sister in the world,” her father added, with a smile.

Ladonna felt happiness swell within her once again and she vowed that she would do just that; and she would always protect her baby brother or sister from any danger in the world.


	2. "What is a Baby?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

Over the course of the next few months, Ladonna did feel a little pushed to one side as her parents threw themselves into getting the house ready for the new baby. One thing that Hamish and Travis had forgotten to mention to her was just how much work went into said preparation; creating a nursery, buying special furniture, clothing, bottles, baby-proofing the house...Ladonna was getting a little fed up of the new baby before it was even born. 

Until her mother brought home the photograph that changed everything.

“It’s a sonogram,” she explained to Ladonna, showing it to her. To Ladonna, it just looked like a fuzz of shapes in black and white, but her mother pointed with a delicate hand to one in particular. “You see that? That’s the baby.”

“That’s it?” Ladonna frowned. “It’s so...small. How can something so small need so many things?”

Her father, who was busily baby-proofing the edges of the kitchen counter with some grey foam-rubber, laughed. “You’d be surprised, sweetie. You needed all this stuff too when you were born.”

Her mother put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Everything we’re doing is to ensure that baby’s well taken care of.”

“Like having a pet?” Ladonna could remember when Hamish had got a puppy, a little Scottie called Jock, and how many various bits and bobs he needed to get hold of in order to take care of him properly. That had been four years ago and Jock was doing just grand. She tried to imagine the baby growing up in the same way, with lots of love and care.

“If you like.”

Ladonna remembered something. “Do babies cry a lot? At night?”

“Sometimes,” her father replied, taping down the foam-rubber. “But you were a fairly quiet baby.”

“You’d wake up in the night for a feed occasionally,” her mother added, picking up a box of foam-rubber. “But don’t worry. It’s not like you and the baby will be sharing a room or anything.”

She went into the living room. Ladonna was about to follow her when her father called her back. He sat her down at the kitchen table. “Have we been neglecting you, darling?”

Ladonna looked up at him in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, the new baby coming along...” Her father shrugged. “I know it seems to be all we talk about at the moment and it’s never easy going from only child to older sibling, I know, but I promise that we’re not going to forget about you either.”

“You’re not?”

“Of course not.”

Ladonna took a deep breath. “But are we still going to, you know, do family stuff like we’ve always done before?”

“Well, of course.”

Ladonna beamed at him. So family stuff didn’t stop just because a new baby was in the house. That scruffy tramp, what was his name, Jack Gray, had been wrong about that, and Hamish and Travis had been right. Happily she got to her feet and hurried into the living room. “Mama, can I take this to show Hamish and Travis?”

“Of course, darling,” her mother smiled. “And when you get back, you can help me pick out some colours for the nursery.”

“That’s a baby?” said Travis a few moments later, tilting the photograph at an angle and leaning backwards to try and make out the shape. After a while, he shook his head. “Nope, just can’t see it.” 

Hamish rolled his eyes. “It’s a sonogram, not an optical illusion, Travis. Believe me, it’s there.”

Ladonna laughed. “So, when’s it due?” asked Travis, turning the photograph the right way up. “Oh, wait, I think I’ve got it now!”

“The beginning of the summer,” Ladonna answered. “She's showing now and having to buy lots of maternity clothing.”

“Well, I hope she’ll still have a craving for shortbread after it’s born,” grinned Hamish. “Guaranteed my mum’ll make a whole tin for her when that happens.”

“Yeah, my mother’s getting excited too.” Travis handed the photograph back to Ladonna. “No offence, but what is it with women and babies? One of them starts expecting and then they go all broody and cooey.”

“Cooey isn’t even a word,” Hamish pointed out, even though both he and Ladonna knew what Travis meant. 

“Yeah, it is,” Travis insisted. “People shout coo-ee all the time. I’ve heard them.”

“Ya daft idiot,” Hamish said, shaking his head. 

“It’s because all women see babies as cute,” said a voice behind them. The trio turned to see Jack Gray, once again, leaning casually on the nearby gate. He grinned, wolfishly. “And they’re right. Babies are cute little bundles...of trouble.” 

Hamish put his hands on his hips. “I thought we told you to get lost.”

Jack smirked and then quickly snatched the photograph from Ladonna’s hands. He laughed. “Oh, sure, you think it’s adorable now, but just wait ‘til it’s born.”

“Give me that back!” Ladonna exclaimed, stepping up to him. Jack was a little taller than her but she wasn’t afraid of him by any means. 

Jack held the sonogram just out of her reach. “If the crying doesn’t drive you insane, the smell will.”

“Give me that back!”

“And you’ll have to keep the noise down when it’s nap time.”

“Are you going to give me that or-?”

“And they pull hair and pinch; guaranteed your baby’s gonna be nothing but a bundle of spite-!”

The slap was so loud that it was a wonder the whole street didn’t hear it. In fact it startled Hamish so much that he leapt into Travis’ arms like a cartoon character and Travis jumped so much that he fell off the curb, still holding Hamish, and they landed in a tangled heap. Jack, for his part, was so surprised that he was rendered speechless for a few minutes. Only Ladonna stood with a calm fury in her eyes. Jack finally smiled, in spite of the fact that one of his cheeks was now bright red whilst the other was pale as bone. “Looks like I underestimated you, Miss Park Lane.”

“Don’t you talk about my baby brother or sister like that,” Ladonna snapped, snatching back the sonogram. “Ever!”

“Aye, you tell him, Lassie!” Hamish egged her on, struggling to untangle his limbs from Travis’s. 

Jack folded his arms and faced her. “Hm, I quite like feisty women. You know, if life at home doesn’t work out, you can always look me up.”

Ladonna stuck out her chin, proudly. “What makes you think I’d want to have anything to do with you, Mr Gray?”

“Oh. Mr Gray, is it?”

Feeling the colour rising in her cheeks, Ladonna drew herself up to her full height. “My parents always taught me to be polite, even if others aren’t always polite back.”

“Hm.” Jack grinned as he walked around her, looking her up and down. “I quite like that. Mr Gray. And as for being polite...”

“Which you are not,” Ladonna interrupted, stiffly. 

“True, but perhaps this might make you change your mind about looking me up.” Before Ladonna had time to register what was happening, Jack had swept her into his arms, spun her about and dipped her low, as if they’d just finished dancing; a rather suave move on his behalf.

Ladonna let out an indignant “Oh!” followed by a demand of “Take your hands off-!” before she broke off, looking up into his mischievous brown eyes. The warmth of his arms about her sent shivers down her spine and she felt breathless. “Me,” she finished finally as Jack too lost himself in staring at her, breathing in her beauty once more. 

Hamish and Travis finally untangled themselves and now they leapt to their feet. Hamish tapped Jack on the shoulder. Jack turned, releasing Ladonna, who would have landed on the pavement had Travis not caught her in time. Jack turned to Hamish, who was squaring up to him, in spite of Jack being half a head taller than him. “You touch her like that again and there’ll be hell to pay,” Hamish told him, sounding like an over-protective brother. “From both of us; am I right, Travis?”

“Right,” Travis agreed, loyally, as Ladonna brushed herself down. 

Jack wasn’t the least bit fussed, however. “Relax, Scotty; I wasn’t going to hurt her. I don’t do that to women.” 

Ladonna thrust the sonogram at Travis and stepped up to him. “If you ever do that to me again-!”

“Oh, like you didn’t enjoy it,” Jack smirked, looking down at the deep pink blush creeping up her neckline. Ladonna, lowering her eyes, suddenly observed that he wore the top two buttons of his grey shirt open so that his collarbone and the slight but definite line of muscle in his chest were visible. Her blush deepened. With a flick of his wrist, Jack flipped one finger under her chin and brought her head up to meet his gaze. “Perhaps it’s time you learned to live a little, Miss Park Lane.” Stepping back, and ignoring the glares from Hamish and Travis, he straightened his collar and then saluted at them in a slick fashion. “Later, guys.”

“Let me at him,” Hamish muttered, but Travis held him back. “Take it easy, mate,” he advised. “He probably knows a lot more moves than we do.”

“He’s not worth it, Hamish,” Ladonna insisted, trying to stem the hot feeling in her face. “Anyway, I need to go and help pick out some colours for the nursery.” 

She made a hasty retreat before her friends could question why she was looking so hot and bothered. “We’ll see you later!” Travis called after her. 

“Yeah, and if that tramp comes...tramping around this neighbourhood again, we’ll see him off, don’t you worry, Lass!” Hamish added.

Ladonna gave them both a quick wave over her shoulder as she walked into the house, feeling totally and utterly confused. However, she was too busy helping her mother pick out the colours to paint the nursery with to dwell much on it there and then, so she pondered it that night as she lay in bed. 

Jack Gray was the most insufferable, irritating, insolent, scruffy, lazy and downright disrespectful young man she had ever met in her entire life.

So why had the feeling of his arms excited her so much? Why had she been momentarily lost in his eyes? Why had the sight of his open shirt caused her to blush so deeply?

‘Ladonna de Gascon,’ she scolded herself, inwardly, ‘how dare you go thinking such things about a scruffy tramp you barely know! Now, there’ll be no more of that! You’re too young, anyway! Wait until you’re sixteen at least!’

Pushing, though rather reluctantly, all thought of Jack Gray from her mind, Ladonna focused instead on being a big sister. She had felt like it for the first time today when Jack Gray had insulted the baby...‘standing there with that tousled dark brown hair and those mischievous brown eyes and that open shirt...no! Mustn’t think about that!’ Ladonna sighed. The baby was the most important thing in her life now, she decided, it was time to focus on that instead. 

Benjamin was born in the first week of Ladonna’s summer holidays, and the second Ladonna saw him, she knew, she just knew, that she was going to love her little brother no matter what. When it came to holding him, she was surprised at how heavy he was for something so small, but there was something utterly adorable about him, and as his bright blue eyes found her face, Benjamin made a contented cooing sound, like he knew that she was his sister. Ladonna beamed down at him and then smiled at her parents. “He’s the most beautiful baby brother in the whole world.”

There was a gentle tap at the front door. “Ooh,” said her father, making his way downstairs, “visitors.” It turned out to be Hamish, Travis and their parents, come with presents and to coo over the new baby.

“Och, he’s lovely,” smiled Mrs McHeath.

“Congratulations,” grinned Mr Browne. 

“Ladonna, darling, why don’t you put the kettle on?” asked her mother.

Ladonna passed Benjamin over to her. “Bye, baby brother,” she smiled and then went down to the kitchen. Hamish and Travis followed her. Ladonna was beaming all over her face. “Isn’t he adorable?”

“Aye, I have to say,” smiled Hamish, “he’s a cute little fella.”

“Yeah,” grinned Travis, “but now you’re going all broody and cooey, Ladonna.”

Ladonna laughed. “Cooey, yes, but not quite broody, Travis. Besides, you need a man for that.”

‘And preferably someone who isn’t anything like a certain Jack Gray; no! Stop thinking about him, Ladonna!’ 

“You ok?” Hamish frowned. “Your face has gone really red.”

Ladonna forced her face into a casual smile, trying to cool her burning cheeks. “I’m fine, guys, really. Just excited about the baby, is all.”


	3. The World Begins to Crumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

“Do you have to go to this business thing, Mama?” sighed Ladonna.

It was a few weeks after Benjamin’s birth and while her little brother was curled up fast asleep under the blankets, Ladonna was sitting against her mother’s pillow, watching her pack a variety of outfits into a suitcase. She had a book in her hands, but her mother’s feverish activity had caused her to forget what she was even reading. 

Her mother smiled. “I know, darling, I know you’d rather we didn’t but Mr La Bouffe did invite us to before we found out about Benjamin and it would be rude if we both didn’t turn up.”

“Well, how long will you be gone for?” Ladonna asked, forgetting that she had already asked the question. 

“Just three days,” her mother replied, patiently folding up her nightgown. “Can you pass me those earrings on the dresser, darling? The blue sapphires?”

Ladonna swung her legs off the bed and went to pick them up. “I’m just worried about Benjamin, is all.”

“Oh, darling, you don’t think we’d leave you both behind if we thought that one of you wouldn’t be alright for a few days, do you?” Her mother held out her hand for the box and then patted her daughter’s shoulder. “Besides, Aunt Sarah will be here, remember? She’ll take care of things.”

“Aunt Sarah,” Ladonna repeated. “I haven’t seen her since I was, what, two? I can barely remember what she looks like.”

“I think you were three when you last saw her,” her mother replied, fastening her suitcase. “And your cousins would have been five.”

“Mina and Lisa.” Ladonna nodded. Now them she could remember; rather bossy and wicked, they had been in their youth. They had dragged Ladonna into all sorts of scrapes and then blamed her for getting them into trouble. Of course, Aunt Sarah had taken their side, or said something along the lines of “Oh, girls will be girls,” making Ladonna look like the guilty party. Still, all that was in the past. Ladonna was, after all, a young lady now, as her parents told her, and her cousins being two years older than she meant that they must have matured too. 

Even as she was thinking this, the sound of the front door banging open caused them both to jump and Benjamin woke at once and began to fuss. Protectively, Ladonna jumped onto the bed, scrabbled to the cradle and picked him up, gently, cooing and murmuring like a mother as she looked around the room. 

“What on Earth-?” her mother began, and then the sound of footsteps reached their ears as Aunt Sarah swanned into the room. Dressed in a velvet green coat, she was a buxom, slightly plump woman with a shock of white hair, piled high up on her head like a meringue and covered by a small straw hat tied with thick ribbons under her double chin. With her pointed nose and tottering manner as she walked, she reminded Ladonna of a character in some comedy play and she tried not to laugh. 

“Darling!” exclaimed Aunt Sarah, bestowing a kiss on Mama, her voice somewhat high and plumy. “I’m terribly sorry if I have kept you waiting!”

“No trouble at all, Aunt Sarah,” Mama laughed, turning to Ladonna. Benjamin was quiet now and she had put him back in his cradle and was affectionately waving his small stuffed frog toy at him to make him smile. “Ladonna.” Turning, with great reluctance, away from her baby brother, Ladonna came to her mother’s side and offered Aunt Sarah a friendly smile. 

“Oh, she’s grown, hasn’t she?” Aunt Sarah boomed, pressing the flats of her hands against Ladonna’s cheeks and turning her face this way and that so that she might look at it from different angles. Ladonna bit back the sharp retort that she wanted to make, which would have been something like ‘Well, I’m hardly going to have shrunk since you last saw me, am I?’ “Yes,” Aunt Sarah continued, “and rather pretty too, I daresay.”

Ladonna wasn’t quite sure how to take that remark but she tried to remain polite. “It’s good to see you again, Aunt Sarah,” she said, although her heart told her feebly that she didn’t mean it. 

“Girls, girls,” Aunt Sarah added over her shoulder as her twin daughters clattered into the room behind her, giggling loudly. “Come and meet your aunt and cousin.”

Lisa and Mina straightened up and Ladonna felt her heart sink. Both girls were about two inches taller than she. Both had steel dark brown hair, as opposed to Ladonna’s own chocolate brown hair, tied up in neat buns at the backs of their heads. Both wore creamy coloured gowns, one with dark pink at the hem, sleeves and belt, and the other with blue in the same places. Both wore necklaces with jewels, one gold with rubies and one silver with sapphires, and both wore little teardrop earrings, again one gold and one silver. As long as they dressed like this every day, it would be easy to tell the two apart. But what worried Ladonna was the fact that she could see, in their dark brown eyes, that neither of them had changed inside one little bit. 

The girls both smiled, although Ladonna could tell they were forced, and dropped a curtsey to Mama. “Charmed,” they said in unison, their voices both echoing the sneers that Ladonna remembered from their childhood. 

“Goodness,” laughed Mama, “I hardly recognised you two girls.”

The twins stepped forwards. “Cousin Ladonna,” said Mina, in the blue, her eyes glinting with a wicked mischief. 

“We’re going to have so much fun,” Lisa, in the pink, added, her voice dripping with the same wicked mischief as she squeezed Ladonna’s shoulder. 

Ladonna found herself struck by an urge to grab her mother’s hand and beg her not to go. Before she could do so, however, Aunt Sarah turned to the cradle. 

“Oh, and is this little Benjamin?”

As her cousins also turned in the direction of the cradle, Ladonna, heart leaping, shot forwards and positioned herself between them and her brother. Then, sensing everyone glancing at her, rather oddly, she swallowed and said, bravely, “Yes, and it’s his nap time, so-”

“Oh, they can have a little peep, Ladonna,” her mother insisted, leading them to the cradle. 

“Aw!” cooed Aunt Sarah, leaning over to look at the drowsy Benjamin. “The little angel.”

“Aw!” her daughters echoed, although Ladonna didn’t trust them. In that second she decided that she didn’t want either of them near her baby brother. She quickly busied herself with adjusting Benjamin’s blanket and rearranging his toys as Aunt Sarah straightened up. 

“Dear, dear, makes one quite broody, doesn’t he? Look at you, Ladonna,” she added, raising an eyebrow, as Ladonna went about her task of trying to discreetly get her cousins away from her brother, “acting like a little mother already.”

Sensing a way out, Ladonna quickly said “Mama, I think he needs a clean nappy. I’ll do it.”

“Oh, Ladonna’s been a big help,” Mama said, as if Ladonna were in another room altogether and not right there in front of them. At the realisation of what changing a nappy might involved, Lisa and Mina both wrinkled their noses and retreated from the room. Ladonna quickly changed her little brother anyway, playing and fussing with him as she did so, and by the time she had laid him back in the cradle, her mother and Aunt Sarah had left the room too, taking the suitcase with them. Ladonna pressed a kiss on her sleeping brother’s forehead. “Don’t worry, Benny,” she whispered, “I won’t let them get you.”

She made her way downstairs, still holding him in her arms, as Aunt Sarah started to wave her parents out the door. “Now, now, you’ll miss your train. Go. Go.”

Papa laughed and kissed Ladonna and Benjamin goodbye. “Now you take care of your brother, Ladonna, ok? And we’ll be back in three days.”

“Yes, Papa,” Ladonna replied, kissing her mother. 

“You’re a good girl,” her mother murmured, giving her one last hug before they finally got into a taxi and Ladonna, Aunt Sarah, Lisa and Mina waved them out of sight. Breathing out, and wishing desperately that she and Benjamin had been able to go with them, Ladonna quietly made her way back into her parents’ room and laid Benjamin down for his nap. When she came out, she found Lisa and Mina dragging their enormous suitcases towards the guest room they had been given to sleep in. 

“This is it?” Lisa wrinkled her nose. The second best guest room was white and though some might call it boring, Ladonna had always found it rather elegant, because it was always kept so neat. Dumping her suitcase in the hall, she strode over to the white wardrobe and yanked open the door, which gave an alarming creak as it was abused so. “Look at this! It’s a cupboard! There’s never going to be enough room for all our dresses in there!”

Ladonna, standing in the doorway, frowned. “Well, how many dresses did you bring? You’ll only be here a few days.”

“So?” Spinning to face her, Lisa turned her nose in the air. “Our clothes need more room than this!”

Resisting the urge to slap her, Ladonna replied, evenly, “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, but you’re going to have to manage. It’s the only wardrobe in the room.”

Mina sniffed, contemptuously, and threw herself onto the bed. Ladonna jumped, half expecting it to collapse. “Ooh-oh!” Mina sat up, sharply and glared at her cousin. “Call this a bed? What’s the mattress made from? Granite?”

“Well, we don’t use this room very often, so it hasn’t been slept in for a while,” Ladonna began. 

“Huh!” Lisa folded her arms and then nodded into the hallway. “Well, what are you waiting for? Fetch in our bags!”

Ladonna blinked at her. “Excuse me? I’m not a servant. If you want them, you fetch them yourselves. You’re guests in my home.”

“And everyone knows that the hostess has to do things for the other guests!” Mina snapped. 

“What-?” Ladonna cut herself off as she spread her arms in a gesture of amazement and almost laughed. “Maybe if the other guests asked politely instead of ordering the hostess around-!”

“Well, if the hostess doesn’t do what the other guests want when they ask for it, then maybe the guests will just have to get loud and wake the baby.”

Ladonna blanched. “You leave Benjamin out of this.” 

“Well, we will.” Mina smirked. “If you do what we say.”

Ladonna felt trapped. She knew there was no point in telling Aunt Sarah; she would only take their side after all. So, she did as she was told. 

Lisa laughed in delight. “Oh, my God! You will do just about anything for that baby, won’t you?”

Ladonna bristled. “Torment me if you want, but if you lay a finger on Benjamin-”

“Like we’d go anywhere near it.” Lisa stuck her nose in the air. “Now, go make us something to drink.”

Ladonna couldn’t believe it. Now, on top of everything else, she was a slave in her own home? This was...but what could she do? She wasn’t about to let them do anything to torment Benjamin, and as she had already told herself, Aunt Sarah would be no help whatsoever. There was nothing else to do, except put up with what they asked of her for the next three days.

It wasn’t going to be easy, she knew, but what happened later that evening was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

After running herself ragged for her cousins all day, with Aunt Sarah maintaining the view that she was merely being a good hostess, or doing it because her mother had asked her to, as well as making sure that she got to Benjamin first if he cried for a feed or a change or just from boredom, Ladonna staggered into her room, hoping that her baby brother would stay asleep all night so that she wouldn’t have to worry about him. She was met with the sight of her cousins in her room. Lisa was standing at the open wardrobe, rummaging through her dresses whilst Mina lounged on the bed, tossing the bolster about. 

Ladonna found her voice. “What are you doing in my room?”

Lisa smirked at her. “Just browsing. You know, I think we may end up having to put our clothes in your closet; you’ve got far more room, although we’ll have to throw out some of your stuff to make room for ours.” 

With a smirk, she tossed Ladonna’s favourite evening gown, pale blue velvet, onto the floor. Watching it cascade down onto the rug, Ladonna felt a surge of anger rise up in her. “Get away from my things!” 

Charging forwards, she grabbed hold of Lisa and pulled her sharply away from the closet. With an indignant squeak, Lisa struck her across the face. Ladonna landed on her knees. The bolster hit her a second later as Mina sprang up off the bed. It didn’t hurt, of course, but Ladonna stared up as her cousins glared down at her. 

“We did warn you,” Lisa smirked, seizing hold of Ladonna by her hair and dragging her to her feet. 

Ladonna let out a yelp and clawed at her hand. “Get off me...you cow!”

Flinging Lisa away from her, she rubbed her forehead as Lisa staggered back into the dressing table. A few things fell over and the glass framed photograph of her with her parents toppled but didn’t fall. Ladonna breathed out. Mina, seeing this, however, snatched it up and raised it above her head. 

“No!” cried Ladonna, but as she ran forwards, her feet got tangled up in the dress that Lisa had thrown on the floor. She stumbled forwards and fell into Mina. The photograph flew out of Mina’s hand and smashed to the floor as both girls tumbled out of the room and onto the landing. 

“What is going on up here?” Aunt Sarah’s voice reached them before her footsteps did. 

Rubbing her head, which was still aching from being dragged by the hair, Ladonna scrabbled off her cousin. Mina quickly retreated across the landing with a gasp. “Mama! Oh, Mama! I don’t know what I did! Only-!”

She gestured at Ladonna who had knelt to scoop up the broken pieces of glass that had once been the frame for the photograph that she treasured so much. Lisa took the opportunity to join her sister. 

“She did it, Mama!” She pointed at Ladonna. “She just went for us for no reason at all! Look, I’m bleeding,” she added, showing her hand where Ladonna had had to claw at her to throw her off. “Look!”

“What?” Ladonna turned to face them. Aunt Sarah was looking both shocked and stern. Ladonna rubbed her head again. “No. I didn’t-”

“She threw that picture at us!” Mina insisted, pointing to the broken glass on the floor. “We were just looking at her dresses and she turned all violent, like a wild animal!”

“Aunt Sarah-!” Ladonna began, even though she knew it was useless. 

“I thought better of you than this, Ladonna!” Aunt Sarah boomed, stepping up to her. Ladonna stepped back, towards the window, still clutching the broken photograph frame. “I thought that your parents had raised you to be a proper young lady, but I can see they didn’t do right by you at all!”

Ladonna bristled. “My parents brought me up just fine!” She threw an arm in the direction of Lisa and Mina. “They’re lying!”

Lisa and Mina adopted the innocent expressions that always worked on their mother, and this time was no different. “Ladonna,” said Mina in an innocent tone, “why would we lie? You’re the one who attacked us.”

“But that’s not true!” Ladonna insisted, darting past Aunt Sarah and stepped towards the girls. “Tell her!”

At once, the twins ran with a squeal of fright into the second best guest room. 

“Ladonna, you will not leave your room at all tonight!” Aunt Sarah snapped. “I shall have to think about what to do with you!”

“But-!”

“No!” Aunt Sarah glared at her. “You’re just as wild and unruly as you always were; getting my daughters into trouble yet again! I won’t stand for it!”

She swept from the room, shutting it firmly behind her as she did so. Ladonna stared after her...and then, feeling useless, dropped the broken photo frame into the bin. Pulling the picture from it, she drifted over to the window and stepped onto her balcony, looking in the direction that the taxi had carried her parents...and wishing once more that she could have gone with them. 

Down in the street, unnoticed by her, Jack Gray was making his way towards the place he had deigned to sleep tonight when he spotted her up on the balcony. He looked up and saw that she had her head buried in her arms, deeply in floods of tears. 

“Poor girl,” he murmured, shrugging, and of course not knowing the real reason behind her upset. “Still...she can’t say I didn’t warn her.”


	4. Footloose and Fancy-Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

Ladonna didn’t dare ask where the taxi was taking them. Aunt Sarah had kept glaring at her every time she had tried to protest her innocence in the trials of the night before. She’d been unable to talk to Hamish or Travis about it as Aunt Sarah had shooed her out of the house before she had a chance to even say “Good morning” to them, although she got the feeling that Mina and Lisa would tell their more exaggerated version of events to Mrs McHeath, whom had been called over to babysit Benjamin whilst Aunt Sarah whisked her away somewhere unknown. Ladonna felt a little comfort that Mrs McHeath was looking after her brother; at least Aunt Sarah hadn’t left her daughters in charge of him. She trusted Mrs McHeath at least. 

The taxi eventually pulled up outside some kind of large office building that Ladonna didn’t recognise. She hadn’t taken in how far away from home they were either; and now she looked out onto a street that she didn’t recognise, but which gave her shivers to look at. 

“Wait here,” Aunt Sarah replied, savagely, as she swept from the car. 

“But what-?” Ladonna began as the door banged shut on her. 

Aunt Sarah silenced her with a look and strode into the building. Ladonna leaned back against the leather seats, fingering the clasp of her bag and hoping that whatever this was, it wouldn’t take long. She hadn’t brought a book. 

The taxi driver glanced back at her in the mirror. “Alright, Miss?”

Ladonna nodded, not really wishing to talk. The driver, however, didn’t take the hint, and looked over at the building her Aunt had gone into. He grimaced. “Mm. You must have done something pretty bad, Miss, if she’s gone in there.”

“Why?” Ladonna leaned forwards. “What is that place?”

“The office to enrol kids in Ratcliffe Hall; the toughest summer school for unruly teenagers this side of the Mississippi.”

“Summer school?” Ladonna felt her stomach churn. Unruly teenagers? She knew, as did everyone else in her school, that if you were enrolled in summer school, it was a black mark on your life forever, one that you could never hope to shake off. Her school chums spoke of people who had been to Ratcliffe Hall, and come back all the worse for wear. Added to that they had brought shame on their parents as well as on themselves and become outcasts in society after being rejected by their families and friends. 

A shudder rippled through her at the thought of disappointing her parents. 

No! She just couldn’t take it!

Scraping her fingers a little in the process, Ladonna fumbled with the catch of the door. No, she had to get home...and then...then she’d explain everything to Mrs McHeath. Mrs McHeath would believe her, why wouldn’t she, and then...and then everything could sort itself out...somehow...couldn’t it? 

All her sense blurred into a palate of panic and all Ladonna knew in that split second as the door flew open was that she had to get away. 

“Hey!” exclaimed the driver as Ladonna stumbled out onto the road and slammed the door to avoid it being ripped off by a passing truck. The truck driver blasted his horn in annoyance as he sailed past. Aunt Sarah, disturbed by the commotion outside, looked up in time to see Ladonna sprinting across the road and down the street. 

“Ladonna de Gascon!” she shrieked, wrenching open the door. “Come back here at once, young lady!”

Ladonna took no notice as she ran in a blind panic down the street, turned a corner and pelted onwards. Several streets later, she skidded to a halt as she realised that she had absolutely no idea where she was going, or even where she was. 

Leaning on a bin, she took a great gulp of air and tried to stem the pounding in her heart as she closed her eyes, determined not to give way to tears. Never in her life had she been so far from home without at least one, if not both, of her parents with her. Being alone in an unfamiliar part of town was terrifying. She took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Calm down, Ladonna,” she murmured, wondering what on earth to do about getting home. She tried to imagine what Papa would do in a situation like this. He, she decided, eventually straightening up, would not panic. He would ask someone for directions and then see if he couldn’t hail a taxi home. 

The only trouble was that there was no one in sight to ask. Still, she thought, surely if she walked around a bit she would find someone? This part of town couldn’t be completely deserted, after all. 

Pulling herself together, Ladonna wandered down the street and by and by she heard voices coming from a nearby alleyway. It was not the sort of place she would usually consider going, especially alone, but she mustered up all of her courage and made her way towards three scruffy looking men. They were quite a bit older than she, dressed in ragged clothing and caps and huddled around a large, overturned can, playing craps and smoking. 

“Well, I don’t know,” one was saying as she approached, “I don’t really think that-”

Ladonna took a deep breath. “Excuse me?” she began, in her politest tone. 

The trio looked up at her, and Ladonna didn’t like the looks on their faces. “Ooh, hello,” grinned one, getting to his feet and laying down the cards. “Look what the wind’s blown our way, boys.”

“I’m trying to get to Park Avenue,” Ladonna said, shakily, as he stepped up to her. “Can you help me?”

“Maybe you can help us,” said the beggar, walking around her, the way Jack Gray had done that time before. Once again, Ladonna felt shivers run down her spine, although they were shivers of unease and not of anything pleasurable. “Eh, lads?”

“Oh, aye,” smiled one of his companions, also getting to his feet. “I think she can.”

“We’ve got a right pretty young lady ‘ere, alright, chaps,” the first said, tugging at a strand of her hair. Even though it didn’t hurt, Ladonna wriggled away from him and said, in a dignified tone, “Well, thank you, but I must be going.”

She turned but he barred her way. “What’s the rush? Why don’t you stick around a while, darlin’?”

“Yeah, we can ‘ave some fun,” the second grinned, grabbed her shoulders from behind. 

Ladonna let out a shriek. “Let me go!”

“Alright, calm down!” He gave her a little shake and a lecherous smile. “We’ll be gentle.”

Ladonna tried to struggle free but he was holding her too tightly. “Please let me go,” she begged. 

“We will, when we’ve had our fun,” the first replied, taking hold of her chin. 

No sooner had he touched her, then something came down out of nowhere and whipped his hand down. With a yelp of pain at the sting, he looked up and Ladonna did too...as Jack Gray leapt lightly down from the wall and pointed the large stick at the beggar. “That’s close enough,” he said, sternly, regarding the beggar with contempt, even though the man was taller and broader than he. 

The beggar smirked. “Oh, yeah? Says who?”

“Picking on a child now, is that your game?” Jack replied, cool and unafraid. Barely even looking behind him to make sure that he’d aimed right, he threw his other arm about and punched the beggar holding Ladonna. The blow caught him squarely in the face and he released her at once. Grabbing Ladonna’s hand, Jack whipped out with the stick as the first beggar started towards him. He lashed the man about the face and then, as the third, who had just sprang to his feet, charged towards them, Jack spun around, dragging Ladonna out of the way, and head butted him. He fell, and as his companions struggled to their feet, sporting their own injuries, Jack released Ladonna’s hand. 

“Well, don’t just stand there, you little idiot, run!” he exclaimed, giving her a shove in the direction opposite to the way she had come. 

Ladonna did as she was told and sped past the beggars as they advanced on Jack. Unaware of where she was even going, she sped along the alleyway, flinging herself through a broken mesh fence down at the end and eventually stumbled out onto yet another unrecognisable street. 

A hand touched her shoulder and she dragged herself free with a yelp.

“Hey, hey, it’s me!” Jack held up both hands in self-defence. “And you don’t have to worry about them either,” he added as Ladonna threw a frightened look towards the alleyway. “They won’t be bothering us again anytime soon.”

Ladonna looked up at him...and felt her courage returning. “I’ll have you know I’m not a child!”

“What?”

“You called me a child back there! I’m sixteen next week, I’ll have you know!”

“Quite the little lady, aren’t we?”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Jack folded his arms. “But you have to admit, you were a bit stupid entering in a place like that.”

“Well, I wanted to ask them how to get home!” Ladonna exclaimed, hotly. Looking around her, she added, somewhat desperately, “I don’t suppose you’d know, would you?”

“Park Avenue’s that way,” Jack replied, gesturing carelessly over the way they had just come. He was watching her, carefully. “But why’d you want to go back to somewhere you’ve clearly just run away from?”

“I haven’t run away from there. I ran away from...” Ladonna broke off, once again struck with the realisation of how far away from home she was.

“From?” Jack prompted. 

She hadn’t wanted to cry, but suddenly the way he looked at her made her feel, well, terribly lost, and turning away from him, she found she couldn’t stop herself. 

“Hey.” Gently, Jack spun her about to face him and then pulled her into a comforting hug. “It’s alright,” he murmured.

He was being so nice all of a sudden that Ladonna stopped feeling angry or annoyed with him. Instead, she gave in, burying her head against his chest and wrapping her arms about him as she cried, softly, into his front. 

“Now,” Jack said, as her tears finally subsided, “why don’t you tell me what’s going on, Miss Park Avenue?”

Ladonna pulled away, although she didn’t let go of him completely, and looked up at him. “Would you please stop calling me that?” 

“Well, I don’t know your name.”

“It’s Ladonna. Ladonna de Gascon.”

“Ladonna?” Jack smiled. “I like it. Ok, then, Ladonna, why don’t you tell me what’s happened to you and what you’re running away from?”

Realising how much she suddenly wanted to tell him everything, Ladonna did just that. Halfway through her story, Jack guided her towards a bench and sat her down, seating himself beside her, but he said nothing the whole time, just listened to her story. When she had finally finished, he was silent a few minutes more and then he said “Your Aunt was actually going to send you to summer school? Just for that?”

Ladonna nodded. 

Jack breathed out, incredulously. “Damn, she must be evil!”

“Not really.” Ladonna wriggled her shoulders and then leaned forwards, elbows in her lap. “It’s just that Lisa and Mina can twist her around and convince her that they’re the ones in the right...and I’m the one in the wrong.”

“Blimey, no wonder you were crying last night.” Ladonna glanced at him. Jack smiled. “Just happened to notice when I was passing by.”

“You come down our road a lot,” Ladonna said, thoughtfully. “Do you live near us?”

“I live wherever I want to,” Jack replied, straightening up. “Anyway, we’re talking about you, not me.”

Ladonna sighed. “I just...Jack, I don’t know what to do. I want to go home...but...”

“Home? To that lot?” Jack shook his head and got to his feet. “No, sorry, I just can’t allow it.” 

He held out a hand to help her up. Ladonna frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You need looking after. And you’re not going to get that if you go back now, are you?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Look, you’ll be alright if you stick with me.” Jack smiled. “I’m not the rogue your friends make me out to be, you know.”

Ladonna managed a smile. “Hamish and Travis just get a little overprotective sometimes. Sorry.”

“I don’t mind.” He hadn’t let go of her hand yet, she noticed. “But it’s my personal opinion that you’ve led a pretty sheltered life and you’ve never really lived.”

“Lived...what?”

“Just lived. Footloose and fancy-free and all that. Ever. Am I right?”

She frowned. “I don’t know, are you? What does footloose and fancy-free mean?”

“It means,” Jack replied, spinning her about, dropping her hand and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “living a life outside of the rules, no boundaries, no fences to keep you in all the time. I live it every day. You should try it. Starting right now.”

Ladonna glanced up at him. “Jack...why are you doing this? For me?”

Jack’s gaze never flickered once. “I like you. You intrigue me.” He dropped his arm and held his hand out for her to take again. “Coming?”

“Where?”

“The perfect place to begin your education into living the way I do.”

Trusting him, Ladonna put her hand in his. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem.”

“No, I mean thank you for saving me, just now. I was really scared.”

“I know.” Jack smiled. “I could tell by your screaming.”

“I wasn’t screaming,” Ladonna began to protest.

“But you’re welcome,” Jack cut across her, cheekily. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“But where?” Ladonna insisted.

“Somewhere a bit brighter than this dreary street.” 

Ladonna gave in and allowed Jack to drag her away, the promise of being footloose and fancy-free dawning with every step they took.


	5. This Lovely Bella Notte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

To Ladonna’s surprise, Jack led her straight to the zoo. “Hey, Jack!” exclaimed the man at the ticket booth, waving as they approached. 

“Hey, Joe!” Jack grinned back. 

“Oh, is this your new girlfriend?” Joe asked, looking to Ladonna. Before either of them could answer, he added “Ah, she’s a pretty one and no mistake. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it.”

He waved them through the zoo gates. Ladonna frowned at Jack, who decided to elaborate. “He owes me more than a few favours, so he usually lets me in free.”

“Why are we here?” asked Ladonna, looking around. 

“It’s a good place to start your education,” Jack replied, grabbing her hand. Ladonna allowed herself once more to be pulled along without question. Reaching a bench, Jack dropped her hand and turned to her. “Step One. Bending the Rules.”

He gestured to the bench. Ladonna glanced at the sign pinned to it. “Please keep feet off benches. I don’t-”

“I want you to stand on the bench.”

“What? I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Well, because!” Ladonna gestured to the sign. 

“No one’s looking,” Jack countered, folding his arms. “And they all do it anyway when they’re alone. Look, if you don’t try and bend the rules at least once in life, you’ll never learn to live a little.” 

Ladonna looked at him. “This is living a little?”

Jack’s only response was to raise an eyebrow at her. With a sigh, Ladonna looked around. “I can’t.”

Jack sighed. “Pity. I had high hopes for you, but if you’re too scared-”

“I’m not scared!” Ladonna bristled. 

Jack grinned and she realised he was using reverse psychology on her. Setting her face into a cool but determined look as befitting a young lady, Ladonna turned and stepped up on the bench. Mustering all her courage, she walked across it in three smooth, quick strides and jumped neatly down again the other side. 

“Impressive,” Jack grinned, following her. 

Ladonna folded her arms and stuck her chin out. “Still think I’m scared to break the rules?”

Jack laughed. “Don’t go getting cocky after one walk along a bench.”

“Well, what else do you do to “live a little” as you put it?” Ladonna asked. 

“You’re pretty sharp when you’re not crying, aren’t you?” Jack observed. 

Before Ladonna could object, he grabbed her hand again. “Come on. Step Two. Walking on the Wild Side.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Ladonna objected. “And I don’t think I like the look of it either,” she added as they reached a nearby tree. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “I never took you for a wimp, Miss Park Lane.”

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

“I’ll keep calling you that if you don’t learn to let go of your inhibitions,” Jack retorted, giving her a little shove.

“But I don’t climb trees,” she protested. 

“You do now.”

Ladonna sighed and then glanced, dubiously, up the tree. Feeling Jack’s eyes boring into her back, she took a deep breath and then placed her foot carefully on a small knot that was level with her knee. Taking hold of the lowest branch, and praying that her dress wouldn’t ride up further than was decent, she tried to pull herself up. Her strength seemed to falter, and when she tried again, she couldn’t find anywhere to rest her other foot and balance whilst making her way onto the branch. Her foot flailed, uselessly, slipping and eventually landing back on the grass whilst Jack watched, with folded arms.

“You really don’t climb trees,” he exclaimed, finally. 

Ladonna sighed and tossed her hair as she turned to him. “This is impossible.”

Jack shook his head and stepped up to her. “Here,” he said, bending and cupping his hands on his knee. “I’ll give you a boost.”

Ladonna glanced at him and then gave in. Placing her foot in his hands, she allowed him to help her onto the low down branch. It was higher up than she had anticipated and she held on with grim determination. 

“Shift over,” Jack advised, swinging himself up easily to sit beside her. 

“How do you do it?” Ladonna asked, watching him swing his legs freely. 

“Easy when you know how,” Jack replied, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. 

“No, I meant how do you live every day like this?”

“So did I.”

“Oh.” Ladonna looked over towards the zoo and suddenly realised what a lovely view lay before her; an array of colours ending in hedges, trees and buildings. Her stomach gave a growl as she realised it must be lunchtime. 

“Here.” Looking up, she just had time to catch the apple that Jack has plucked from the tree and tossed to her. “Don’t give me that look,” he added, “they’re here for the picking. There’s no law saying otherwise.”

Ladonna watched him as they ate. ‘Jack Gray,’ she thought, ‘is a something of a rogue...but I like him.’ Suddenly she realised that she felt completely safe from anything in his presence. 

“Oi, you two!” exclaimed a voice, suddenly. 

Ladonna glanced downwards and felt her skin prickle as a man in a park keeper’s uniform shook his fist at them. “Step Three,” grinned Jack, chucking his apple core to the ground, “Improvising in the face of Danger.”

Swinging down from the tree like Tarzan on a vine, he landed in front of the park keeper and grinned, casually. “Something wrong, Mr Park Keeper?”

“What do you two think you’re playing at?” the man asked, glancing at them both.

“Playing?” Jack looked up at Ladonna. “Hear that, sweetie? He thinks we’re playing.”

Ladonna managed a nervous smile. The park keeper looked suspicious. Jack turned to him. 

“No, you see, what happened was, my girlfriend here started feeling light headed, and well, of course, everyone knows that the best natural cure for that is to eat something healthy, so of course, we climbed up here to get an apple. You’re feeling alright now, aren’t you, sweetie?” he added, looking up at Ladonna. 

Cottoning on, Ladonna nodded. “I think so.”

“Oh.” The man looked surprised and then humbled. “Well, er, alright, then, but don’t let it happen again.”

Jack nodded, seriously, and then held up his hand to Ladonna. “Come on, love, and tell me if you start feeling light headed again on the way home, right?”

With another nod, Ladonna allowed him to help her down. Pulling her close, Jack scanned her face with put-on concern. It worked. The man tipped his cap and then walked off, throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder at them as he went. 

Jack grinned at her. “I think that went well.”

“Can you talk your way out of just about anything?” Ladonna asked, slightly in awe.

“Pretty much.”

Glancing down, Ladonna noticed that she was pressing very close to him and doing so was making her heart race faster. Jack noticed as well and they quickly parted. Clearing his throat, Jack pulled himself together. “You’re getting the hang of living a little.”

Ladonna folded her arms, hoping to hide the flush rising over the neck of her dress. “So will you stop calling me Miss Park Lane now?”

Jack grinned. “Promise.” He held out his hand, and, automatically, Ladonna took it. “I think that’s enough lessons for now, though.”

“So, what do we do?” Ladonna asked. 

“You don’t want to go back home, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Well,” Jack shrugged, “let’s just walk.” 

So, they did so, and Ladonna found herself wondering how she could have missed out on “living foot-loose and fancy free” all her life before. Also, she found herself marvelling at how comfortable she felt in Jack’s company, more so than she ever had with anyone else, even Hamish and Travis. 

“It’s getting late,” Jack pointed out, finally. “Let’s eat.”

“Where?” Ladonna couldn’t help asking, hoping his meals weren’t restricted to scrumpt apples alone. 

Jack grinned. “Best restaurant in town. Come on.”

He led her to a quiet street with just one eating house. The sign read “Tony’s Italian.”

“Not that way,” Jack said as Ladonna turned towards the door. He grinned at the curious look on her face. “I’ve got my own private entrance.”

He led her around the back of the building. “Wait right there,” he instructed, letting go of her hand. Ladonna watched as he stepped up to the half-door. From inside the kitchen, she could smell a symphony of delicious aromas. 

“Hey, Tony!” called Jack.

A large Italian man with a black moustache appeared in the doorway. His face immediately lit up and he opened the door. “Jack! Long-a time, no see, ci? Luigi, look-a who it is!”

A man in a chef’s outfit appeared too. “Well, whaddaya know? Jack!”

“Evening, fellas,” Jack grinned as Tony clapped him on the back. 

“Hey-a, Luigi, bring-a the boy some pizza!” Tony said. 

“Oh, no pizza tonight, Tony,” Jack insisted. “I’ve got a guest.”

He turned and beckoned to Ladonna. Slightly nervously, Ladonna stepped forwards from the shadows. 

“Well-a, I never!” exclaimed Tony. “Jack, you got a new girlfriend!”

Ladonna blushed. “It’s nice to meet you,” she began, holding out her hand, politely. 

“Oh, a real lady too!” Tony kissed her hand and then leaned closer to Jack. “You take-a my advice, and settle down with-a this-a one. Luigi, fetch me a menu, you fool! Jack’s got a date-a tonight!”

He went back into the kitchen and Ladonna glanced at Jack. “This-a one?”

Jack shrugged, guiltily. “No idea.”

“Here we are,” Tony said, coming back into the courtyard with a table and two chairs. He set them down and laid a basket of bread, a lit candelabra and a bottle of wine on top of the table. “Now, what would-a you two like? It’s on-a the house, of course.”

“It all looks delicious,” Ladonna confessed. 

“I recommend the bolognaise,” Jack replied, grinning at Tony. 

“Uh huh!” Tony clapped his hands at Luigi in the kitchen. “Hey-a, Luigi! One sharing plate of the special bolognaise, heavy on the meatballs!”

“Alright, alright,” Luigi muttered to himself. “Mamma mia!”

Tony went back into the kitchen and brought out two glasses, which he lay before them. Jack quickly poured the wine. “Have you had this before?” he asked. 

Ladonna smiled. “A few times, at parties. Italian red’s the best.”

“Now-a, here you are,” Tony said, bringing out the sharing platter along with the silverware. “The best-a spaghetti in-a town.”

It was the most delicious meal Ladonna had ever tasted in her life. A few moments later, Tony came out with an accordion, joined by Luigi on ukulele and they both began to sing. 

“Oh, this is the night, it’s a beautiful night, and they call it bella notte. Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes, on this lovely bella notta.”

Absently, both Jack and Ladonna took a forkful of pasta, not realising they had both opted for the same long strand of spaghetti and began to eat. Their lips met as they both reached the middle of the strand and in that second, the world seemed to stand still. 

“Side by side, with your loved one, you’ll find an enchantment here. The night will weave its magic spell, when the one you love is near.”

Meeting Jack’s eyes, Ladonna broke away, covering her shy giggle with her hand. Jack, for his part, looked slightly stunned and then pleased. He quickly nudged the last meatball to her side of the plate with his fork. Dropping her hand, Ladonna met his gaze again. 

“So, this is the night, and the heavens are right, on this lovely bella notte.”

The song over, Jack and Ladonna clapped and their hosts bowed before leaving them to finish their meal. Ladonna looked at Jack as she put down her empty wine glass. “Jack?”

“Mm?” Jack turned to her, and couldn’t help smiling. 

Ladonna took a deep breath. “I think that this has been, without a doubt, the best day of my whole life.”

Jack smiled. “Mine too,” he said, meaning it. He took her hands. Ladonna met his smile, feeling comfortably at ease. “You’ve got a bit of sauce,” Jack said, brushing it gently from just under her lips. Heat seared through both of them at that touch. 

And then they both forgot absolutely everything, even their own names, as, hands in hands, they shared another, soft, shy, sweet and utterly magical kiss under the starlight.


	6. Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

“Ah!” sighed Tony, watching the scene quietly from the kitchen, with Luigi. “Amore! Jack’s a-gonna settle down with a-her, I can feel it.”

In that moment, Jack was certain that he just might. Ladonna was like no girl he had ever met before. True, she was naive and vulnerable, but she was also feisty and good. You don’t deserve her, his heart muttered, but he ignored it. Just for this moment, he knew that she was his.

Ladonna blinked up at him as they finally broke apart and smiled, shyly. “Am I any good at that?”

“Very,” Jack replied, his eyes shining with mischief in the starlight. 

She blushed. “I’ve never kissed anyone before tonight.”

“You really have led a sheltered life, haven’t you, Miss Park Avenue?” he replied. 

Ladonna was about to reprimand him when she saw that he was joking, and she took a playful swat at him. “You are incorrigible, Jack Gray!”

“How was a-the meal?” Tony drifted out of the kitchen to pick up their empty plate. “Oh, I see you managed it all!”

“It was lovely, thank you,” Ladonna replied, politely. 

“Yes, I think Luigi’s cooking only gets better,” Jack added, clapping Tony on the shoulder. 

Tony laughed, jovially. “Well, I’m a-happy to hear it! I pass-a it on, ah?” 

He left, bustling back into the kitchen, singing to himself “This is the night, it’s a beautiful night...”

“Come on,” Jack said, getting to his feet and holding his hand out to Ladonna. 

She took it, wide-eyed with curiosity. “Where are we going?”

“Just for a walk. The town’s pretty quiet this time of night, and there’s something I want to show you.”

Ladonna allowed him to lead her along. She kept a firm grip in his hand, completely unafraid. Had she been out alone, or even with her parents, in this area of town, in the dark, she would have been completely terrified. But now she felt safe. She was with Jack. He had been right, too. The town was completely deserted and there was no chance of anyone popping out of the shadows at them. Looking around her, Ladonna felt that they were standing in another world, one that was eerily beautiful at night and went completely unnoticed during the day. 

“Just this way,” Jack said, tugging her down a small alleyway and then across a road. Ladonna blinked at the cluster of trees and bushes ahead of them. “Is that a park?”

“Yeah, just a small one.” Jack smiled at her. “But it is lovely at night.”

“It is lovely,” she agreed, gripping his hand even more so. “I never knew it could be like this at night.”

Jack smiled and then led her up a small hill. “Plus you get to see this.”

“Oh, Jack!” Ladonna breathed, staring at the landscape. It was littered with light, dots of street lamps and beyond and above, the immortal sky, spattered with glistering silver stars. “Oh...” Lost for words, she let go of his hand and dropped to crouch with her arms clasped around her knees. “It’s...it’s like heaven.”

Jack turned away from her to stare at the lights. “I get to see this every night. That’s the beauty of living footloose and fancy free.”

His tone was enthusiastic, but Ladonna noticed that it also held a faint hint of regret. She looked up at him. “Jack, do you like living on the streets like you do?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Jack pivoted to face her, and although his face was a picture of innocence, his eyes were slightly bitter. “No rules, no responsibilities-”

“No family?” Ladonna said, softly. 

Jack said nothing for a second. Then, he shrugged and turned away from her again. “I’m fine on my own.”

Ladonna reached up and grabbed his hand. She tugged, trying to pull him down beside her, but although Jack didn’t shake her off, he didn’t budge either. So, she pulled herself up instead and clasped his arm. “No one’s ever fine on their own, Jack. Not really.” She paused, wondering if she dared ask the question. “What happened to you, Jack? Please tell me.”

Jack sighed and glanced at her. “You really want to know?” She nodded. Jack looked away from her. “I’ll spare you the details. My parents died when I was very young and I was shoved into an orphanage. But it didn’t matter how many families seemed to want me at the time...they always dropped me back at the orphanage...not knowing what I did wrong, like a stray dog. The last one, well, I thought they might finally be the ones. But then...they had a baby. And they decided that they suddenly didn’t have enough room for all their kids. So guess which one got dumped?”

Ladonna caught her breath, wondering how any family could be so careless, especially when it came to someone like Jack. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“I ran away after that.” Jack shrugged. “I decided that families just couldn’t be trusted.”

“But they’re not all like that,” Ladonna insisted. “Perhaps it’s different when the child’s your own, perhaps it’s harder for adopted children, but...” She took a deep breath. “Jack, not all families do that.”

“Perhaps it was me.” Jack glanced at her. “Perhaps I had it coming.”

“No, don’t say that.”

“I’ve always been rebellious.”

“You’re not a bad person, Jack.” Ladonna insisted, turning him to face her. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

Jack looked at her, her innocent little face, her gorgeous, trusting brown eyes and knew, in that second, that he loved her. Cupping her face in his hands, he stepped towards her and rested his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes. “I wish I could be better. For you.”

Ladonna felt her eyes flutter shut as he kissed her, but this kiss was a deeper, more passionate one than the first two. She read about such kisses in books that always left her blushing afterwards, but this felt nothing like they described. It was gentle and warm and caring, and he tasted of the wine they had shared at dinner. Pressing close to him, Ladonna could feel his heart racing against her hands, and at the same time she felt hers pick up, like she’d just sprinted a thousand yard marathon. 

Jack would have kissed her forever if she hadn’t started shivering. He broke the kiss, gently, and pulled away from her. “Are you cold?”

“A little,” Ladonna admitted, wishing she had brought her coat. 

Jack pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back, trying to warm her. He shook his head. “It’s no good. I’m going to have to take you back to Tony’s or you’ll freeze to death.”

“Tony’s?”

“Yeah, he’s got some rooms above the restaurant. Sometimes he lets me kip there if I’m desperate.” Tucking her arm into the crook of his own, Jack led her back down the hill. “He says he’d let me stay there permanently if I liked.”

“Why don’t you?” 

“There’s no way I’d be able to make rent. Not without a job, anyhow.”

Ladonna thought for a second. “If you worked for Tony, surely he’d let you stay there for free.”

Jack stopped. “Never thought of that. Interesting.”

Tony was surprised to see them both back, but more than willing to let them stay the night. “I’m afraid-a it isn’t much-a compared to what you’re a-probably used to,” he said to Ladonna, ushering them into the bedroom with an en suite bathroom, “but it is warm and clean, at-a least.” 

He had that right. Ladonna looked around the room, and whilst it was more plain in decorative taste than her own bedroom, it was friendly and welcoming and completely spotless. She smiled, politely. “I think it’s wonderful, thank you, Tony.”

“Yeah, cheers, Tony,” Jack added. 

“Well, I can’t a-have you-a two sleeping outside, ah?” Tony replied, with a small bow. “I leave-a you to it; but if-a there is anything-a you need, please tell me or Joe at-a once.”

“We will,” Jack assured him as Tony shut the door. 

Ladonna hadn’t realised how tired she was until she sat down on the bed. “It’s not a five star hotel, I know,” Jack said, scratching his head, awkwardly, “but-”

Ladonna glanced up at him. “I’m not a snob. Don’t go thinking I am.”

“No, but I’m sure you’re used to much more luxurious surroundings.”

“All a bedroom needs is a bed and a window.”

Jack whistled. “You’re really not like other girls, Ladonna.” Then, he smiled at her. “But that’s good.”

He lay down on the bed. Ladonna felt the colour rush to her cheeks as she turned to look at him. Once again, she found herself thinking about how handsome he was, how much she felt attracted to him, the way his shirt was open a little more so than it ought to be on a gentleman...and she quickly looked away from him. 

“Do...do we have to share the bed?” she found herself asking. 

Jack gave her a mischievous look. “It’s alright, Ladonna, I don’t bite.”

“But...it’s not proper, is it? For two people to share a bed like this?”

“Nothing’s going to happen.” Jack pushed himself up on one elbow. “You trust me, don’t you?”

Ladonna looked at him and then nodded. “Yes, Jack. I do trust you. More than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my entire life.”

“Then you must know I’m not about to take advantage of you.” Jack held out his arm to her. Without a second thought, Ladonna lay down beside him and snuggled up to him as he wrapped his arms around her. 

“Jack?”

“Mm?”

“I feel safe with you.”

Jack smiled and pulled her closer. Even as he did so, he found himself wondering how this could possibly work. Ladonna might not be a snob, by nature, but she was a lady, technically, and he was little more than a common tramp. She was way out of his league, even if she wanted him the way he wanted her. It just couldn’t happen. He couldn’t see her parents, even if they were nice, accepting him as their daughter’s choice. 

“Jack?”

“Yes, Ladonna?”

“I wish we could be like this every day.”

Jack glanced at her and realised that she was close to falling asleep. “So do I,” he murmured back. 

Ladonna turned over in his arms to lie on her other side, but Jack didn’t release her, even when he too fell asleep, lulled by the warmth of the restaurant below and the feel of the girl who had stolen his heart in his arms.


	7. Broken Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

Ladonna was woken by a soft knocking on the door. For a second, she couldn’t remember where she was. What was this strange room? And who was holding her? Then, turning slightly, she remembered as Jack blinked sleepily at her. She smiled. “Who’s at the door?”

“Beats me,” Jack grinned, stretching and then sitting up. “Probably Tony.”

He was right. Ladonna sat up and smoothed down her dress, which was a little creased from the night before, but otherwise none the worse for wear, as Jack got to his feet and opened the door. Tony bustled in, carrying a tea tray, which was balancing two cups of caffe’ e latte, a plate of soft bread rolls, two bowls of muesli, two pots of yoghurt, a dish of butter and a small pot of jam. 

“Buongiorno,” he greeted them, setting the tray on the bed. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“Thank you,” Ladonna smiled. 

“It’s a positive feast,” Jack added. “Have you actually got any food left in the kitchen, Tony?”

Tony laughed and left them to it. Ladonna picked up the nearest cup and let the warm, sweet brew sooth every part of her body as she leaned back against the pillows, thinking hard. Jack joined her on the bed, and they ate in virtual silence. Jack finally stole her an anxious glance. 

“You ok?” he asked. “You’re very quiet.”

Ladonna took a deep breath. “Jack...maybe after this I should get going. Back home.” 

Jack had been expecting this, but still it was like a fatal blow. “I see,” he said, stiffly.

Ladonna glanced at him. “Oh, Jack, it’s not that I don’t...I mean...I’m needed at home.”

Jack glanced down at the tray, avoiding her gaze. “Your aunt needs you?”

“No. Not her. Benjamin. My brother,” she added as Jack glanced at her. She leaned forwards, grasping his arm. “He needs me.”

“Come with me.” Jack clambered off the bed and walked over to the window. Ladonna followed him. Jack pointed out across the street. “Look out there. What do you see?”

“Nice houses. With families.”

“No, beyond that. A whole world without limits, without rules and responsibilities.”

“It does sound wonderful,” Ladonna admitted, turning to him. “But I need to go back home. I promised Benjamin I’d take care of him, and so far I haven’t exactly done the best job of it.”

Jack sighed in defeat and looked at the floor. “Well, I guess I knew it couldn’t last forever.”

Ladonna bit her lip. “Jack, last night was the most wonderful night of my life and I’m not a bit sorry I met you. If it were different...I’d take you up on staying longer. But I need to go home.”

Jack nodded and met her gaze. “You win. I’ll take you home.”

“It’s not goodbye forever. You can still see me.”

“It wouldn’t be the same. We’re from different worlds, Ladonna. You’re a lady. I’m a tramp.”

“You’re as good as any man from a well bred family I’ve ever met,” Ladonna insisted, catching his hand. 

Jack smiled, a genuine smile this time. “Come on, then, let’s get you home before your parents get back.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain everything to them,” Ladonna sighed as she followed Jack from the room. 

Jack squeezed her hand. “It’ll be ok. Just tell them the truth. They’ll have to believe you over your aunt.”

They left Tony’s, after a quick stop-off in the kitchen to say goodbye to Tony and Luigi. Tony had taken her hand in both of his and given her a warm smile. “You must-a come back sometime, Ladonna,” he told her. “Don’t a-be a stranger a-here.”

“I’ll try not to be,” Ladonna had promised, before following Jack out into the street. The whole place looked different in the daylight, compared to at night. It was full of hustle and bustle and many people, and, remembering what had happened the previous day, she kept a firm grip on Jack’s hand as they walked through the streets, making their way towards Park Avenue. 

“Oh, hey!” Jack stopped suddenly and dropped her hand. Ladonna frowned at him. He had stopped outside a house with a yard surrounded by chickens. 

“Time for a little chicken rustling, I think,” Jack mused. 

“Chicken rustling?” Ladonna repeated. 

He grinned. “Good way of making a living. Steal a chicken, keep it a day, return it to the owner and collect the reward. Piece of cake.”

“Jack, you can’t-” Ladonna began, but he’d already vaulted over the fence. He beckoned her. 

“Come on, help me catch one.”

“But the owners-”

“Relax.” Jack helped her over the fence. “I know this place. They’re out. Now, quick, before someone notices.”

Ladonna glanced wearily around at the chickens, who were eying her in a way she didn’t care for. Catching one proved to be easier said than done. They kept flapping so much and it was hard to grab one with all the feathers they kept flapping up. Jack actually fell over one as it shot under his feet and landed on his stomach with a loud “Oof!” The chickens began to squabble and panic, as though being attacked by a fox, and when Ladonna thought that she might be able to grab one, it let out such a squawk of shock that she released it at once. 

“Hey!”

Jack whipped around. “Police. Run!”

He shot over the fence before Ladonna had time to pull herself together. Before she had even reached the fence, she felt a hand grab her arm. Turning, she looked up into the face of a very stern looking policeman. 

“What do you think you’re up to?” he asked. 

“Nothing,” Ladonna tried, looking around for Jack, but he was nowhere in sight. In that second she was certain he had abandoned her, on purpose. Fear flitted through her mind. Was he going to make her take the rap? Was it some form of revenge for her not staying with him? Surely he couldn’t be that shallow? 

“A likely story. You’re coming with me.”

“But-”

“Come along, Miss.”

Ladonna shot one more frantic look around for Jack. Then she realised what was about to happen. 

“You can’t arrest me! I haven’t done anything!”

“You call poking around in someone else’s garden and worrying their chickens not doing anything?” the man asked, dragging her from the garden. “We’ve had complaints from this house before. Someone stealing their chickens. Rustling, is it? Eh?”

“Yes! I mean, no! I mean, it wasn’t me!” 

“Oh, yes? Then who?”

Ladonna couldn’t bring herself to drag Jack into it, so she remained quiet. The policeman raised his eyebrows. “I see. Come on, you’re going to take a ride in a police car.”

Ladonna felt tears spring up into her eyes as he pushed her into the back of the car. Once again, everything had gone wrong so quickly, somehow. And Jack had abandoned her. Why? Bringing her knees up to her chin, she tried hard not to cry. Even though she hadn’t done anything, she was going to bring more shame on her family by getting herself arrested. She prayed silently that once she gave them her address and phone number that Aunt Sarah would bail her out. She had to. Like it or not, they were family. 

Jack, for his part, didn’t realise that Ladonna wasn’t with him until it was too late. He stopped, caught his breath and then exclaimed “Phew! Ok, maybe that was a bad idea! Won’t be doing that again in a hurry!” 

Then, he realised he was alone. “Ladonna?”

A wave of dread hit him. What if she’d been caught?

“Oh, no,” Jack muttered, pelting back towards the house with the chickens. By the time he got there, however, the police car and Ladonna were already gone. 

“Oh, jeez!” Jack muttered, running a hand through his hair. Ladonna would think that he had abandoned her on purpose, when he hadn’t. He had genuinely thought that she was right behind him. He cursed himself inwardly for not checking she was with him, for not letting her go first. 

“She may never forgive me for this,” he realised. Consciously naive as Ladonna was, she was in no way stupid. There was no way she’d give him a chance to explain. She’d lock him out of her life forever.

What could he do?

He sat down on the pavement, thinking hard. There was no way he could bail her out of prison, no money, although her aunt surely had to? But after that...? 

Jack shook his head. “I’ve ruined everything,” he muttered, praying for some miracle that could make everything alright for Ladonna in that dreadful place.


	8. Fool for Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

Ladonna sat down on the bench, trembling all over. Alright, so this wasn’t prison; just a holding cell whilst the police worked out what to do with her. It was right next to another holding cell with several boys about Jack’s age inside. She shared hers with another girl; a little older than her with a shock of light blonde hair and dressed in a white vest and brown baggy trousers with boyish boots. She looked rather scruffy compared to Ladonna, although Ladonna got the feeling that here was a girl who could take care of herself. She tried not to make eye contact. 

“Hey, love,” one of the boys suddenly grinned at her. “So, what’d you do?”

“Look at her, a real debutante,” another teased. 

Ladonna said nothing, merely looked at her feet. 

“Hey, Little Miss Park Avenue!”

Ladonna flinched at his use of Jack’s nickname. 

“Hey, what’s the matter with you?” the boy demanded. “Can’t you talk?”

“Nah, she’s just too stuck up to speak to the likes of us, boys,” said another. Ladonna shot her head in their direction “I mean, look at the fancy threads she’s wearing.”

“Hey, you want to pack it in already?” snapped the girl suddenly, sitting up.

“Jeez, Peggy, we’re just having fun,” said the first. 

“Well, lay off.” Peggy sat up and, to Ladonna’s surprise, patted her shoulder in a friendly manner. “Can’t you see she’s scared? She doesn’t need you jerks teasing her.”

“Oh.” The boys became contrite and apologetic at once. “Gee, sorry, Miss,” said the first. “Didn’t mean nothing by it.”

“It’s alright,” Ladonna managed to say in a tiny voice. 

“You don’t need to be scared of them, honey,” Peggy told her. “They don’t bite.”

“So, seriously,” said the first one, leaning on the bars, “what are in you in for? Girl like you? I’m Butch, by the way.”

“Yeah, and that’s Dash and Rolf,” Peggy added, pointing them both out. “And I’m Peggy. What’s your name?”

“Ladonna. Ladonna de Gascon.”

“Seriously, what’s a girl like you in a place like this for?” persisted Butch. 

Ladonna took a deep breath. “I, um, I sort of ran away from home and got into a bit of trouble.”

“You got a family?” Dash asked. 

Ladonna nodded. 

“Well, then, don’t worry about it,” Rolf said. “You’ll be out of here in no time. They took your details when you came in, right?” Ladonna nodded. “Well, they’ll call your number and then your folks can come and bail you out. You’ll be fine.”

Ladonna looked at Peggy. “Well, what about you lot? Will you be out of here soon?”

Peggy laughed. “Probably not, honey. We’re what you might call repeat offenders. Nope, it’s another bout of community service for us!”

“Yep!” Butch sighed. “How the devil Jack never gets caught and we always do is beyond me.”

“Jack?” Ladonna turned to him. “Jack Gray?”

“Yep. You know him?”

Ladonna sighed and straightened her sleeves. “We’ve met.”

Dash raised his eyebrows. “Let me guess...you were with him when you landed in trouble?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Rolf laughed. “You’re probably lucky to get out of there when you did. It’s always the pretty ones.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you know? Jack Gray’s not a man to settle for just one woman. No, there’s been Lulu, Trixie, Fifi, Rosita...”

“Yeah, what a guy,” sighed Peggy, leaning back against the wall. “Oh, yeah, even I’ve got it pretty bad.”

Ladonna felt her heart sink. “So...he’s not likely to...fall in love?”

Peggy glanced at her and then realised. “Oh, honey.”

“Probably not,” Butch said, not catching the tone in Ladonna’s voice. 

Peggy shot him a look and then put an arm around Ladonna. “It just means that he hasn’t met the right girl yet. For all you know, that could be you.”

Ladonna tried to smile. “I thought for a second he might...”

The cell door opened suddenly and a police woman held out her hand to Ladonna. “Come on, Miss de Gascon. Your aunt’s here.”

“You take care now,” Peggy said, giving her a hug. 

“Yeah, and hey, if you’re ever near the community centre, look us up!” Butch added. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Ladonna nodded, got to her feet and as she moved to the door, she felt his words about Jack sink in. “I must have been out of my mind,” she murmured. 

Aunt Sarah shook her head as Ladonna reached her. “Now I’ve had to leave your brother with Mrs McHeath again. You are a disgrace, Ladonna de Gascon.”

“I know,” Ladonna murmured, looking at her feet. “I’m sorry.”

The police woman patted her shoulder. “You take care now, Miss.”

“She certainly will,” Aunt Sarah replied, stiffly, sweeping Ladonna away. “First you’re fighting, then you’re running away and now this. I tell you, when your parents get back...”

Ladonna let her rant on whilst pretending she was listening. Her mind was on Jack. How could she have ever allowed herself to think that he might care about her? She flashed back to the day they had first met. How smooth and slick he had been in approaching her. Men like that could never change. She couldn’t stop a few tears rolling down her cheeks. 

“You will not leave this room for anything tonight,” her aunt commanded, finally pushing her into the downstairs bedroom. “You are more than a disgrace to your family, you know that?”

Ladonna snapped. She just couldn’t help it. Aunt Sarah knew nothing about all she had been through. Whirling around, she exclaimed “Is that all you ever think about? How things like this reflect on you? It’s been a terrifying experience for me too; starting with the second you and your two selfish daughters turned up and ruined my life!”

“How dare you?” Aunt Sarah puffed up like an angry peacock. 

“Your daughters are hateful and so are you!”

Aunt Sarah slapped her across the face. It was a mark of how much Ladonna had toughened up in the past few days that she didn’t fall over with the force of it. Tears stinging her eyes, she turned defiantly to the woman. “Go ahead! Lock me away! It’ll be the best thing you’ve done all week!”

Aunt Sarah swept from the room and slammed the door so hard that Ladonna was surprised that the roof tiles didn’t come crashing down. Hearing the turn of the key in the lock, she turned and flung herself onto the bed, burying her head in the pillow. The downstairs bedroom, reserved for guests who had problems using stairs, like her father’s friend Walter, who was in a wheelchair, was nice, but she wished she could have been locked in her own bedroom. Hours passed as she lay, sobbing, on the bed, wishing she could reverse the clock and somehow make everything ok again. 

“Hey, lassie!”

Ladonna sat up and saw that Hamish and Travis were tapping on the window. Sniffing and wiping away tears, Ladonna climbed up onto the window seat and opened the small top window. 

“You ok?” Hamish asked. “We heard about what happened.”

Ladonna sighed. “Guys, I really appreciate you coming over to check I’m alright, but I really don’t want to see anyone right now.”

“Aw, come on, Ladonna,” Travis said, squeezing her fingers through the gap in the window. “It’s not all that bad. At least you’re home now.”

Ladonna just managed a shaky smile but before she could say anything else, a voice called out “Ladonna!”

Her heart sank. “Oh, no.”

Hamish and Travis turned, and then, seeing who it was, they both leaned against the window and folded their arms, putting on their best “bodyguard” impressions as Jack came racing up to the window. 

“Ladonna, are you alright?” he asked over their heads. 

“You’ve got a right load of nerve turning up here,” Hamish said, scowling. 

“Ladonna, we can throw him out if you want,” Travis added. 

She took a deep, brave breath. “Thanks, boys, but that won’t be necessary. I can handle this.”

“Alright, well, you know where to find us if you need us,” Travis said. 

“You, sir, are a rogue and a villain!” Hamish told Jack, roughly, before following Travis. 

Jack went up to the window. “Ladonna, I am so, so, so, so sorry. I thought you were right behind me. I could kick myself for not checking you’d got out ok.”

“Oh, just don’t.” Ladonna turned away from him. “That place was horrible. I was frightened and embarrassed...” Her voice cracked and she buried her face in her hands to stop herself from crying. “I thought I was going to be in real trouble.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t have had a girl like you sent to jail,” Jack said, placing his hands through the gap in the window. 

“A girl like...?” Remembering what Butch had said, Ladonna glared at him. “That reminds me. All these girls I kept hearing about; Trixie and Lulu and Fifi and Rosita – did you take them all to Tony’s too? And say that they made you want to change too?”

“Wha-?” Jack stared at her. “No! How can you say that?”

“I thought that last night meant something to you!”

“It did! It meant the world to me!”

“How can I believe anything you say when I’m just another silly girl in a long line?” 

“Ladonna, you’re being ridiculous!” Jack exclaimed. 

“Am I?” Ladonna gave him a fierce look. “I was right about you from the start, Jack Gray! I was foolish enough to let myself believe that someone like you might actually care about me! More fool I! Now, if you don’t get of my lawn right now, I will scream for the police and then you’ll be the one behind bars! Goodbye!”

With a great deal of force she slammed the window shut and Jack just managed to get his fingers out of the way in time. “Ladonna!” 

Ladonna promptly shut the curtains and leaned against the window, tears forming in her eyes again. Then, feeling brave enough to check that he was gone, she opened the curtains. He was nowhere in sight. She sighed and was just about to close them again and go to bed – it was now almost completely dark outside – when something caught her eye. She frowned. Something, some shape or other, was moving around on the porch, trying to find a way into the house. 

She froze, her blood stiffening, as she tried to make out what it was. Then, as a car swept past, it lights illuminated a small hole in the doorframe and the creature beside it turned to look at her. Her breath caught in her throat. 

It was a rat!


	9. The Lady and the Tramp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

“Go away,” Ladonna whispered, watching the rat sniff the hole leading into the house. “Just go away.” To her alarm, however, the rat snuck through the hole and disappeared from view. 

Panic struck her. It had had an evil looking face and she knew for a fact that rats carried disease and...oh, God! She clapped a hand to her mouth in shock. If it heard Benjamin crying, it might mistake him for some animal and try to hurt him. 

“Aunt Sarah!” Throwing herself at the door, she began to pound on it. “Aunt Sarah, wake up! There’s a rat!”

“Stop all that noise at once, you silly girl!” came the angry reply.

“But there’s a rat!” Ladonna whipped around and then, feeling that it was their only hope, ran to the window and wrenched it open. “Jack!” With all the breath that was in her lungs, she shouted again. “Jack!”

A little way down the road, making his way slowly, Jack whipped around at the sound of his name. “Ladonna!” He raced back to the house and relief flooded through Ladonna at the sight of him. Jack ran to the window. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Jack, there’s a rat in the house! I saw it! It might hurt Benjamin!”

“How do I get in?”

“Check the back door. It might be unlocked. If not, then you’ll have to break a window.”

Jack nodded and raced around the side of the house. Finding the back door to be open, he snatched up a poker from the fireplace and then ran to the door of the downstairs bedroom. The key was in the lock. Ladonna whipped around as he unlocked and opened the door and she ran to him at once. “Where is it?” she panicked, looking around. 

“There!” Jack pointed as the worm-like tail disappeared up the stairs. 

“Oh, no!” Ladonna raced up the stairs with Jack at her heels, in time to see the rat disappearing into her parents room...where Benjamin’s cradle was. 

Both of them flung themselves into the room in time to see the rat leap onto the cradle. 

Ladonna screamed. 

Jack lashed out with the poker. 

The rat hit the floor, got back on its feet and ran into a corner of the room. At once, Ladonna scooped up her brother and backed against the wall as Jack advanced on the rat. It was rather a large one, and it made an awful hissing noise as he advanced. Ladonna’s heart was in her mouth as she watched and prayed that it wouldn’t attack Jack. 

Jack brought the poker down with a fierce force and hit the rat, again and again and again, like a man possessed. Benjamin, who had been startled awake by his sudden snatching from his bed, began to fuss and Ladonna turned to comfort him. Eventually, Jack straightened up and turned to her. 

“It’s dead,” he informed her, breathing heavily. “Don’t look.”

He picked up the bin and turned it upside down, covering the dead rat from view. 

Ladonna breathed out and leaned against the wall, rocking Benjamin. Jack stepped up to her. “Is he alright?”

“Yes, he’s fine. He just got a bit scared.” Ladonna met his gaze. “Are you alright?” she asked. 

Jack smiled. “I’m fine.”

Ladonna caught the end of the poker and used it to tug him closer to her. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Jack leaned his free hand against the wall, grateful of just being so close to her again. “You’re welcome,” he murmured. 

Ladonna reached up and rested her hand on his chest. His heart was racing, and she wondered whether that was only to do with the recent rat slaying, or whether it was something more. 

But would he slay a rat for anyone else’s brother? 

“Jack,” she murmured, closing her eyes, awaiting his kiss, which she knew was coming. 

Suddenly the light snapped on and Aunt Sarah’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “What on earth is going on?” 

Ladonna glanced at her and then realised that, given her scream and the position they were now in, her aunt was about to jump to the completely wrong conclusion. “Aunt Sarah,” she began, her voice trembling, which didn’t help. 

Armed with a broom, Aunt Sarah stepped up to Jack and swiped at him. Jack ducked out for the way. “Hey, take it easy!” 

“Burglar!” Aunt Sarah cried, shooing him from the room. “How dare you break into our house and try to hurt my niece?”

Ladonna blanched. “Aunt Sarah, no!” Placing Benjamin back into his crib, she hurried after her. “No, you’ve got it all wrong!”

Too late.

Aunt Sarah gave Jack a shove back into the broom cupboard and locked the door. “The police will be on their way!” she cried, hurrying into the living room. 

“No, Aunt Sarah, wait!” Ladonna begged but the door had already slammed. She threw herself against the door of the broom cupboard. “Jack!”

“It’ll be alright, Ladonna,” Jack tried to reassure her. 

“They can’t arrest you for this. They just can’t.” Ladonna leaned against the door, wishing she was in there with him. “You did it to save Benjamin.”

Jack shook his head. “I did it for you, Ladonna,” he corrected her. 

Ladonna lifted her head. “For me?”

Jack smiled. “I know you probably won’t believe me when I say this, Ladonna, but...these last few days, you’ve been all I can think about. I mean, you captivated me from the day I met you, but I never imagined I could ever feel like this about anyone. And I meant what I said yesterday. You really make me wish I was a better person.”

“You’re a good person, Jack,” Ladonna insisted, automatically. 

“But you deserve better than me.” 

“Jack...are you saying...what I think you’re saying?”

Jack nodded. “I’m in love with you, Ladonna. I can’t help it. You’re everything I’ve been looking for. All those other girls...I’ve never felt like this about them, ever. And I never did with them what we did last night. That was special. Just for us. Just for you.”

Ladonna trembled with happiness as she pressed against the door, wishing she could hug him. “Jack, that’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever said to me.” Leaning her forehead against the wood, and imagining that he was doing the same (which he was) she breathed “And you’re everything to me to.”

A cackle of cruel laughter broke through their passion as Lisa and Mina slunk towards her like Siamese cats. 

“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard!” Lisa mimicked in a high squeak of a voice that was nothing like Ladonna’s. 

“How sweet!” smirked Mina. “The Lady and the Tramp!”

“Don’t call him that!” Ladonna snapped. 

The door opened and Aunt Sarah strode back into the room. “The police are on their way.”

“You can’t do this!” Ladonna cried. “He’s done nothing wrong!”

“You are in enough trouble as it is!” Aunt Sarah seized her by the elbow and shoved her back into the downstairs bedroom. As the door locked once more behind her, she could hear Jack calling her name. Ladonna threw herself against the door. “Jack! Jack!” 

There was no escape. She seriously pondered breaking the window and stopping the police before they got there, however, there was nothing in the room to break a window with. She sighed as she leaned against the door. This couldn’t happen. Not now. Not now where Jack had just confessed that he loved her. Her heart gave a little kick. He loved her. He did care. Their date had been special after all. 

The sound of the sirens roused her and she ran to the window as the police car pulled up. “No!” she cried, tapping the window. “No, you’ve got it all wrong!” The policemen ignored her and went into the house. Ladonna heard them making the arrest, and then, as Jack was dragged to the car, she wrenched open the window. “Jack!”

He looked up. “Ladonna?”

“Jack, I love you!” 

Jack felt relief wash through him. “I love you too! Don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine!”

The car drove away and Ladonna was just wrenching off her shoe to break the window with after all, when she saw her father’s car pull up. 

“Papa!” she exclaimed, waving frantically at them. “Mama!”

“Ladonna?” Her mother ran up to her. “What’s going on? Why were there policemen here?”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re back!” Aunt Sarah exclaimed, coming to meet them. “It’s been like a madhouse here!”

“Let me out!” Ladonna cried, running to the locked door. A second later, her father had done so and she flung herself into her parents’ arms. “Papa, you can’t let them take him away! You can’t!”

“Who?” her father asked, bewildered. 

“Jack! He hasn’t done anything wrong! It’s all a mistake!”

“Oh, she’s hysterical!” Aunt Sarah shook her head. “That burglar that was arrested just now-”

“Burglar?” her mother repeated. 

“No, he wasn’t,” Ladonna insisted. “He saved Benjamin. He killed the rat.”

“Rat?” 

“There are no rats in this house,” Aunt Sarah insisted. 

“There was and I can prove it!” Ladonna grabbed her parents’ hands and dragged them to their room. Kicking over the bin, she pointed to the dead rat. “See? It was on Benjamin’s crib but Jack killed it!”

Her mother picked up Benjamin at once. “Good lord!” exclaimed her father. 

“So, you can’t let them arrest him for something he hasn’t done!” Ladonna cried, grabbing his hand. 

He nodded. “Come on, let’s get after them.”

“This is madness!” exclaimed Aunt Sarah as they ran past her. 

“There!” A little way up the street, Ladonna pointed ahead. “I see it!”

“Right. Let’s see if we can get them to pull up,” her father replied, flashing his lights. 

Ladonna leaned desperately on the dashboard. “We’re coming, Jack,” she muttered. 

Her father glanced at her. “You...like this boy, don’t you, Ladonna?”

Ladonna blushed and turned to him. “He’s my...friend.” 

Her father understood at once. “I see.”

“Oh, Papa, if you only knew. He’s looked after me these last few days and he cares about me. He wouldn’t have killed the rat if he didn’t.”

“Well, any man who’s willing to save either one of my children must be good,” her father replied, tooting the horn. “Why don’t they stop?”

Then, everything happened so quickly. Two people jumped out in front of the police car. The vehicle swerved to avoid hitting them and in doing so, skidded onto the pavement and crashed into a fence. Her father did an emergency stop and Ladonna threw herself out of the car at once. She gave a gasp. 

“Travis!”

“Aw, jeez!” groaned Travis, lying by the side of the road with Hamish crouched beside him. “My leg!”

“That was a close one.” Hamish glanced at her. “We heard all your yelling, Lassie, and thought we’d better try and stop the car.”

“What’s going on?” asked the driver, clambering from the car. 

“Officer,” said Ladonna’s father, stepping up to him, “there’s been a terrible mistake. The young man you’ve arrested is a friend of my daughter’s, not a burglar.”

“Never mind that, someone call an ambulance!” Hamish snapped. 

Ladonna looked up as Jack was let out of the car. “Jack!” She threw herself into his arms and kissed him, in front of everyone. 

Jack grinned at her. “Life with you really is one long adventure, isn’t it?”

In relief, she leaned against him as his handcuffs were removed, and then Jack slid his arms around her. Jack glanced over at Hamish and Travis. “Thanks for that.”

“Well, anyone who kills a rat for our Ladonna gets our vote,” Travis groaned, clutching his leg. 

The police sergeant quickly got onto the phone with the hospital as Ladonna turned to her father. “Papa, this is Jack Gray.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Jack replied, politely holding out his hand. 

Her father grasped it. “Likewise, and thank you for helping both my children, Mr Gray.”

Ladonna leaned against Jack in relief. Jack smiled and pulled her close. “Ladonna’s worth every moment of it, sir.”

“Well, come on then, you two. It’s been a long night for all of us, and I’m sure we all need our sleep.”

Ladonna led Jack to the car. “You know,” Jack murmured, kissing her hand. “I think I might take up Tony on his offer of that room, and maybe a job if there’s one going.”

“Really?” Ladonna glanced up at him. “How come?”

“Because if I need to be in your parents good books to date you, I think it’d be a good start.”

“You’re already in their good books.” Ladonna leaned up to kiss him again. “And mine.”


	10. Mistletoe Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fifteen year old Ladonna de Gascon is privileged and ladylike young girl.  
> Eighteen year old Jack Gray is a streewise and daring young tramp.  
> Their paths should never cross in a million years, but when Ladonna finds herself out on the streets, it's up to Jack to show her just what she's been missing in life...

Christmas finally rolled around and it had brought a great deal of snow and ice with it. Not that this was currently any kind of bother to the DeGascons, or to Jack; given that they were all cosy inside the living room next to a roaring fire, quite literally in fact. Benjamin, who was now beginning to crawl, sat in front of Jack, who was supporting him in case he overbalanced, chuckling in delight as Ladonna waved his new teddy bear in front of his face. Her mother watched from the sofa, smiling, as her father took a photograph with his new-fangled camera. The picture was completed by an enormous pine tree, covered in tinsel, pine cones, stars and shinning red and gold baubles, topped with a golden angel, and surrounded by newly opened presents. 

“Oh, looks like we have visitors,” Papa said, glancing out of the window. 

“Visitors?” Mama repeated, joining him as Ladonna, Jack and even Benjamin looked up in surprise. She smiled. “Why, it’s Hamish.”

“And good ol’ Travis,” Papa added, crossing to the door to let them in.

“Ho, ho, ho!” grinned Hamish, waving at them as he entered the door, an enormous tin of mince pies under his arm. “Merry Christmas!”

“Well!” Ladonna smiled, finally giving the bear to Benjamin and stretching her legs out. “Father Christmas must be real; one of his little helpers is here!”

“Ha, ha!” Hamish brushed snow off his sleeves and turned to Travis, who was limping, having recovered from his injury but was still having a little difficulty walking easily. “Just take it easy, laddie, one step at a time.”

“Thanks,” Travis grinned as Papa offered him a seat and he sank into it, gratefully. 

“Now, you, Mister, are going for a nap,” Mama said to Benjamin, scooping him up and taking the bear that Jack held up with a smile. 

“Hot chocolate, boys?” smiled Papa, walking into the kitchen. “Ladonna, what did you do with that box of shortbread that Aunt Sarah sent over?”

“It’s on top of the microwave,” Ladonna replied with a smile as she got to her feet. It had been Aunt Sarah’s means of a peace offering. So much had happened after they had rescued Jack from being sent down – Ladonna liked to think of it as a rescue because of all the drama involved in doing so. They had returned to the house and Ladonna had calmly explained the whole story to both her parents, and of course they had believed her side of the story over that of Lisa, Mina and their mother’s, and had managed to persuade Aunt Sarah that their daughter did not need to be enrolled in Ratcliffe Hall. The trio had been sent away and it was only come Christmas Eve that the family had heard anything from them. Aunt Sarah had sent them a card and a wrapped box addressed to Ladonna, which had turned out to be the shortbread. Ladonna had quickly concluded that perhaps Aunt Sarah didn’t hate her that much after all, then. 

“So,” Hamish grinned to Jack as Ladonna gave him a hug, “how’s life at Tony’s treating you then, lad?”

Jack grinned back as he stretched, casually. “Pretty good, actually. I mean, I’d often wondered about taking him up on his offer to live there, but I never imagined I had a hidden talent as a waiter.”

Travis grinned too as Ladonna gave him a hug. “Well, maybe when my leg’s better, we can pay you a visit down there. I don’t think I’d cope with all the stairs just yet.”

“Aye, you nearly slipped on the black ice just now,” Hamish agreed. 

“And you did slip on it,” Travis grinned. “Right on the bum!”

Ladonna giggled. Hamish flushed. “Well, I’m sure we’ve all been there,” Jack said, getting to his feet as Papa brought in a tray with four steaming mugs of hot chocolate on it. “Here, I’ll take that,” he added.

“Thank you, Jack; I’ll fetch the shortbread.”

Papa left the room again and the friends took up their mugs, gratefully. “Ooh, that’s good on the old fingers,” sighed Hamish. “Here,” he added, holding up the tin. “Have a mince pie.” 

Ladonna smiled, glad that they had finally accepted Jack as a friend. Jack put the tin on the table, pulled off the lid and everyone helped themselves. “Are these homemade?” Jack asked. 

“Yup!” Hamish grinned as Mama came back into the room. “Have a pie, Mrs DeGascon. They’re from my mother.” 

“Oh, lovely, thank you,” she replied, taking one. 

Ladonna took a sip of hot chocolate, wondering if perhaps they could go to Tony’s for breakfast one day and have some more of that glorious caffe’ e latte she had enjoyed with Jack that night they had stayed over. 

Travis began to laugh as she put down her cup. “What?” she asked, bewildered. 

Hamish and even her mother began to giggle as well. Jack grinned. “You’ve got foam,” he explained, brushing it off for her, and then stealing a quick kiss, much to her surprise and delight.

“Whoa!” laughed Papa, coming back in with the shortbread on a plate. “Save it for the mistletoe!”

“Very well.” Jack put his cup down and then pulled Ladonna under the sprig he had hung up over the doorframe earlier that day. Ladonna laughed. “Jack Gray, you are incorrigible!” she exclaimed, flinging her arms around his neck. 

“Well, stop encouraging me, then,” he teased back before kissing her again. 

“Oh, my eyes!” But Ladonna knew from his tone that Hamish was joking. It had taken a while, but eventually he and Travis had come to appreciate that Jack wasn’t the rogue that they had originally taken him for and even put in several good words for him in with her parents. Not that they were needed; her parents had taken to him almost instantly, to the relief of both Ladonna and Jack. As a result Jack found himself spending every second he wasn’t working, or sleeping, at Tony’s around their house, often invited to dinner and spending numerous hours with Ladonna, playing with Benjamin, who had also taken to him very quickly. And Jack had to admit that Ladonna was right about families; they weren’t all like the ones he had had at all. She came from a loving family and now, well, now they were his family too. 

So, Ladonna thought, sharing a kiss with her boyfriend under mistletoe, the first of many, all in all it was a pretty great Christmas, and a perfect, fairytale ending to the most interesting story she would ever have to tell in her entire life. 

The End


End file.
